Tales from the dark side

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 28:8-15), just one day after the blessed celebration of our Lord’s resurrection on Easter, we hear one of the first false stories spread by enemies of the Gospel who think to destroy faith in Christ and his resurrection.

Sadly, there were and have been some who have been persuaded by such flimsy lies or by unfounded fantasies or pseudo-scientific demythologizing. Such deceptions often take advantage of poor catechesis, peer pressure, temptations of the flesh, or a combination of the above.

Undoubtedly the specific disinformation campaign mentioned in today’s Gospel had already been fully underway at the time of Peter’s speech in today’s first reading (Acts 2:14, 22-33) which took place some weeks after the resurrection in the very same city where those lies had been spread.

Yet by the internal and external action of the Holy Spirit, the power and the truth of the Gospel message - the Good News of Christ's resurrection - was unstoppable and thus the book of Acts tells of some three thousand people who were added that day.

The deniers of Christ’s resurrection failed. The tales from the dark side did not work.

Not then. Not now. Not ever.

Some of us today might sometimes be discouraged by the anti-Christian propaganda that seems to fill today’s culture: from the nihilistic echo chambers of academia to the lascivious mindlessness of modern media.

Yet the truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is unstoppable. The twisted logic of finite minds, which may sometimes seem intimidating, cannot prevail against eternal wisdom and infinite power.

Christ is risen.

Indeed he is risen.

May he help us always to be faithful to him and bring us to live forever in his eternally beautiful and powerful light and truth.